Bali-licious

 

Our first task on arriving in Bali was to get accommodation for the night.  Whilst on route that day we read the guidebook and decided that Sanur sounded like the place for us.  We randomly picked out the Bali Hyatt Hotel and asked the taxi driver to take us there, crossing our fingers that there would be room at the inn.  After greeting us with floral garlands and welcome drinks, the staff informed us that unfortunately it wasn’t to be.  In hindsight it was a lucky occurrence because we probably would have been touching down in Dublin by October if we ended up staying for 8 nights!  So, with our backpacks on, we trudged up the street to a resort recommended by the Hyatt.  This time luck was on our side and we checked into the Sanur Beach resort for the next 8 nights.

Our time at Sanur was spent in a fashion similar to that of Koh Samui, being sleeping, swimming, sunbathing and eating.  The breakfast buffet at the hotel is definitely worthy of a mention, where we filled up for the day on fruit, breads, cereal, juices, various different types of eggs and rashers.  Luxury at its best!  We also tried out some fantastic restaurants and returned four times to one particular Italian restaurant, where we were greeted each evening like friends and dined on some of the most authentic Italian food outside of Italy.  It was simply delicious.  Another restaurant cooked the most delicious snapper I have ever tasted.  A third restaurant provided in-house entertainment in the form of a mariachi band, who, upon discovering we were from Ireland, serenaded us with the music of U2!   We also tried Balinese white wine and it was actually very nice.

Sanur Beach

Enjoying a refreshing Bintang

 

On one of our days we decided that we would take a tour to Ubud and its surrounding areas.  Ubud is an inland Balinese town that is said to be quite laid back and where you can experience Balinese culture at its best.  Our first stop on this trip was to an art museum.  The paintings being exhibited here really were very beautiful.  They were mainly scenes of around Bali and of their revered gods, but they were painted so intricately and with such a variety of colour, they really were a feast for the eyes and we spent a thoroughly enjoyable hour there.

Ubud Art Museum

During the day we also visited a number of Balinese temples.  The majority of Indonesian’s are of the Muslim faith, but here in Bali, the overwhelming majority of the population is actually Hindu.  Among the temples we visited was Goa Gajah or Elephant Cave.  This consisted of a Hindu temple which was located in a cave and a Buddhist temple.  To reach the Buddhist temple we had to trek for half an hour through the jungle and walk step paths with sheer drops below and finally cross a rickety bamboo bridge to arrive at a waterfall.  This was what the locals called a natural temple to Buddha and it really was worth the walk to take in its stunning beauty.

Entrance to Goa Gajah

Crossing to Buddhist Temple

Rambling roots

Hindu holy water fountains

When we visited each temple we were asked to put on a sarong and a belt out of respect for the gods.  The pictures below showed how we wore them and wore them in style, particularly Rob.  David Beckham, eat your heart out!!!

Working the sarongs

Our lunchtime stop was at a restaurant with a spectacular view of Mount Batar.  There are a number of active volcanoes around Bali, the most notable being Mount Batar and Mount Agung.  Our mountain view restaurant looked across to Mount Batar.

Mount Batar

Mountain top view

Paddy fields of Bali

 

One of our final stops of the day was to a coffee plantation.  This is a big industry in Bali and we could see lots of different plantations as we drove around the area.  When we arrived we were greeted by the owner (who was friendly with our driver) who gave us a tour around his plantation.  As well as growing coffee on his land, the owner also grew various different fruits, herbs and spices, the majority of which we have only seen in a Superquinn spice jar!  We saw vanilla, turmeric, ginger, fresh chilli peppers, avocados, giant passion fruit, snake skin fruit, cloves, ginseng, lemongrass, pineapple, cocoa beans and tobacco plants.  We were then taken through the process of making coffee, from the harvesting of the coffee bean, prior to if being roasted, the roasting process and finally the grinding of the roasted bean to produce ground coffee.  After our coffee lesson, we were invited to take part in a tasting session.  We tasted eight different varieties of tea and coffee, including hot chocolate, Bali coffee, vanilla coffee, ginseng coffee, lemongrass tea, rice tea, rosella tea and ginger tea.  We both agreed that our favourite was the vanilla coffee.

Tea and coffee tasting

We then decided we would indulge in a cup of luwak coffee.  Kopi luwak is only grown in Bali and is currently the world’s most expensive coffee.  When we were at the plantation we overheard other tourists saying that it currently retails in Singapore for $60 per cup and in Australia for $70 per cup.  We paid 5 euro, not too much more than a mediocre coffee bought in a petrol station back home!  What is so special about this coffee is that it is prepared using coffee cherries that have been eaten by an animal called the luwak.  A luwak is not too dissimilar in looks to a raccoon.  Each evening the staff at the plantation let the luwaks out to roam the plantation.  The luwaks eat only the best beans that are growing on the coffee tree.  They then partially digest the bean and excrete it.  The following morning the staff collect the luwak feces and harvest the partially digested beans from them.  The beans then go through a rigorous and thorough cleaning process (understandably!) before being subjected to the roasting procedure described above.  So, you would think that we would have been put off in trying this coffee, but no, we weren’t.  And you know what, it was absolutely delicious!  It was so smooth and really, really tasty.  Our coffee lover friends would have appreciated it.  Whether it is worth $70 per cup, that remains to be seen but it was worth a fiver in any case!

Drinking coffee luwak

On our final day in Bali, we decided we would try our hands at surfing and booked a 3 hour morning lesson at a surf school in Kuta (the party town of Bali).  Our instructor, Eka, was a chatty girl from Sanur, who definitely favoured the “jumping into the deep end” approach to surfing rather than the “easy does it, let’s spend half the lesson practicing how to stand up on the board while still on the sand” method.  Personally, we preferred the deep end approach!  We spent 15 minutes learning the technique of standing on the board and how to use the equipment properly and then we were in the water!  Rob took to the surfing like an Australian and was standing on the board on his first attempt.  Claire was slower, but by break time had eventually gotten the knack.  We spent the morning riding the waves.  As we improved we braved bigger and stronger one, which was exhilarating and exciting.  By the time our lesson was over, we were exhausted and a bit battered but we have definitely caught the bug.  Next stop Lahinch!

Actually, it’s China…